This invention relates to protective sports gear including, knee guards, shin guards, elbow guards, and other protective gear for body joints. Protective gear is commonly used in sports where a participant risks injury from accidental collisions with the ground, obstacles, or other participants. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,529 (herein incorporated by reference) describes protective joint guards used in in-line skating, and U.S. 2004/0083527 (herein incorporated by reference) describes protective gear for a leg or elbow useful for sports and other activities. Similar protective joint guards also are used in a variety of other sports, such as motorcycle racing, motocross, go-kart racing, snowmobiling, and other motor sports; skiing and snowboarding; skateboarding; street luge; mountain biking, BMX racing, and other bicycle competitive sports; hockey, baseball, and other sports where some participants (e.g., goalies and catchers) risk being hit by high-speed projectiles; and rock climbing, whitewater kayaking, mountain climbing, and other outdoor sports. Additionally, protective gear can be worn to guard against occupational or injuries, such as hazards faced by workers in the forestry, construction, mining, and manufacturing industries.
Typical protective gear may include flexible cushioned pads, abrasion-resistant and puncture-resistant shielding, and adjustable straps for attaching the protective gear to a person's body. Many types of protective gear use simple elastic straps and hook-and-loop attachments (e.g., Velcro®) for securing the gear to a body region. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,529 describes a knee or elbow guard that is worn by looping an elastic strap around an upper limb, looping a similar elastic strap around a lower limb, and securing both straps with a hook-and-loop closure. These elastic straps provide adequate adjustment, but the wearer must adjust the straps for fit during every use. Additionally, the straps may be jostled loose during the sporting activity. In sports where the wearer is highly physically active for long periods of time, such as motocross racing, the wearer often must readjust the straps for proper fit during the sporting event. Other pads use a different attachment method, which can provide more secure attachment, but also involves many more components. For example, the protective gear in U.S. 2004/0083527 can be attached using eight pairs of laces. This system of laces can keep the pad in place for a longer time during heavy use (compared to a system using just two elastic straps), but it involves many more components that take a much longer time for the wearer to secure and adjust. Additionally, the wearer must adjust the fit of the gear prior to each use.
Some protective gear includes a quick set-up attachment and release mechanism. This mechanism allows the wearer to adjust the fit of the gear once during a first use, and the gear retains the adjustments after removal. Thus, the wearer can quickly apply and remove the protective gear without the necessity of adjusting the fit every time. As just one example, this quick set-up attachment and release mechanism is used in the Raptor™ knee/shin guard (a prior system of the assignee). However, some quick set-up mechanisms include many small components that require manipulation and setting by the wearer.